Walt Disney World Wait Times for First Week of September 2024

If you’d asked me the other day, I would have suggested that the next few weeks will be relatively predictable at Walt Disney World.

With September arriving, we’ve officially entered the slow season at the parks. So, we should know what’s about to happen.

Then, Disney threw us all a curveball by making a huge announcement.

As of this week, Tron Lightcycle / Run will switch from a virtual queue to standby lines.

As soon as that happens, the longstanding crowd patterns at Magic Kingdom change after a decade of relatively sedentary behavior.

So, this is the last week of data we’ll track under the old system, the one we’ve had since 2014.

TRON Light Cycle Run

Here are Walt Disney World’s average wait times for the first week of September 2024.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

DinoLand USA

Most of the changes unfolding at Walt Disney World are theoretical for the moment.

We know that Animal Kingdom will shutter DinoLand USA and introduce the Tropic Americas by the end of 2027.

Photo: Disney

However, Disney has indicated that the phased construction approach should allow for the attractions here to remain open.

So, we’re currently in the unlikely scenario wherein Animal Kingdom’s data should remain stable, while Magic Kingdom’s will not.

Tree of Life

Still, even as I say that, I’ll point out this unexpected park report MickeyBlog published the other day.

Our anecdotal evidence has suggested a slow day at the parks. Did that prove true overall?

Here are Animal Kingdom’s average wait times last week:

• Avatar Flight of Passage – 60 minutes, up 3
• Na’vi River Journey – 48 minutes, down 1
• Adventurers Outpost – 35 minutes, up 2
• Kali River Rapids – 28 minutes, up 1
• Expedition Everest – 27 minutes, up 2
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 26 minutes, up 4
• DINOSAUR – 25 minutes, up 6
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
• TriceraTop Spin – 8 minutes, no change

Photo: Disney

Overall, I’m surprised to say that Animal Kingdom was up a tick this week.

The average attraction required a wait of 30 minutes, which is two minutes more than last time.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Now, we reach the curious conversation of Hollywood Studios last week.

As mentioned, we tracked the oddity of a five-minute wait at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance the other day.

Photo: ScreenCrush

The second half of that story is that the wildly popular attraction was experiencing uptime issues all day.

So, we probably just captured it at a moment when it had recently reopened to the public.

Photo: TheCoasterKings.com

Still, I’m wondering how large an outlier that is. Here are the park’s average wait times last week:

• Slinky Dog Dash – 63 minutes, up 4
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 48 minutes, down 1
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 45 minutes, up 2
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 44 minutes, up 3
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 38 minutes, up 1
• Toy Story Mania! – 38 minutes, no change
• Red Carpet Dreams – 37 minutes, up 3
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 37 minutes, up 5
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 26 minutes, up 1
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 15 minutes, no change
• Celebrity Spotlight – 14 minutes, no change
• Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – 10 minutes, no change

Toy Story Mania

Overall, Hollywood Studios attractions averaged a wait of 30 minutes, which is two minutes more than last time.

Note that we’re in the final four weeks of Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy.

I don’t think that will change much, as it’s never been a popular attraction.

That’s why I haven’t mentioned it until now, but anything is possible here.

Photo: Disney

Once the attraction leaves, the curiosity will be whether the other wait times increase due to the smaller number of attractions.

EPCOT

At this park, the 2024 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival started at the end of August.

While we tracked some minimal impacts last week, we’ll really notice the impact this time…at least theoretically.

2024 Food & Wine Festival

Since Food & Wine didn’t start until nearly September, the crowds are definitely smaller than in 2023, when the event began in July.

So, I’m still expecting only a modest effect on the average wait times of the attractions.

Image: Disney

Am I right? Let’s find out:

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 53 minutes, up 3
• Frozen Ever After – 51 minutes, up 4
• Royal Sommerhus – 33 minutes, up 4
• Soarin’ Around the World – 28 minutes, up 1
• Meet Mickey & Friends – 26 minutes, no change
• Living with the Land – 19 minutes, up 5
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 18 minutes, no change
• Mission: SPACE – 15 minutes, no change
• Spaceship Earth – 15 minutes, down 1
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 14 minutes, up 4
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 14 minutes, up 1
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 12 minutes, up 1

Soarin’ Over California

Overall, EPCOT attractions averaged a wait of 25 minutes, which is two minutes more than last week.

In case you haven’t guessed yet, there is a reason why the parks increased a bit this week. I’m saving the explanation for the end, though.

For now, what we can say with confidence is that Food & Wine did increase EPCOT’s crowds ever so slightly.

Since we’re in September, you should expect these wait times to drop over the next few weeks, though.

Magic Kingdom

Photo: Disney

Then, we have the park that will change dramatically this week.

Photo: Disney

Here are Magic Kingdom’s final average wait times of the era with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as the alpha:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 52 minutes, down 2
• Pete Pan’s Flight – 46 minutes, down 1
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 33 minutes, no change
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 32 minutes, no change
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 32 minutes, no change
• Haunted Mansion – 31 minutes, down 1
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 31 minutes, down 1
• Space Mountain – 30 minutes, down 9
• Ariel’s Grotto – 29 minutes, down 1
• Town Square Theater – 28 minutes, down 1
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 24 minutes, down 2
• Astro Orbiter – 21 minutes, down 6
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 21 minutes, no change
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 21 minutes, up 2
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 18 minutes, no change
• It’s a Small World – 17 minutes, no change
• Country Bear Musical Jamboree – 16 minutes, down 2
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 15 minutes, down 4
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 14 minutes, down 3
• The Barnstormer – 13 minutes, down 2
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 13 minutes, down 2
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 13 minutes, down 1
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 11 minutes, down 1
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 10 minutes, down 3
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 10 minutes, up 1
• Walt Disney World Railroad – 10 minutes, down 2
• Mad Tea Party – 9 minutes, down 2
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Final Thoughts

Photo: Disney

Overall, the average Magic Kingdom attraction averaged a wait of 21 minutes, which is one minute less than last time.

Still, Walt Disney World increased its average wait times as a whole, albeit by a fractional amount.

There’s a simple explanation for this uptick. It was Labor Day Weekend.

So, while our crack team of park reporters noticed some lighter crowds at times, the holiday lured plenty of people to the parks.

Photo:visitorlando.com

Again, we can safely expect these wait times to decrease in September, though. It remains the slowest month on the annual calendar.

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Feature Photo: Disney